


Terrible Joke, Really

by AbsoluteChonk



Series: Welcome to the "Dante is actually rich but wasteful" AU [2]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: (Or that's what I'm trying to write), Before DMC5, Before The Nightmare (Devil May Cry), Demons, F/M, Flirting, Slow Burn, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:28:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28505958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsoluteChonk/pseuds/AbsoluteChonk
Summary: As you try to fulfill your promise to Mr. Morrison, you can't help but drawn to the mysterious devil hunter
Relationships: Dante (Devil May Cry)/Reader, Dante (Devil May Cry)/You
Series: Welcome to the "Dante is actually rich but wasteful" AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075088
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	Terrible Joke, Really

The first time working with Dante really surprises you. As you thought, he really has a big income, but it also came with a huge expense. The other thing that you were right about is him forgetting to record his cash—but he managed to collect all the bills he received. When you reviewed all of his expenses, it was a shock for you to know one person is capable of eating 4 large pizza a day for a whole week, no other food, nothing. Except maybe $5.25 strawberry parfait, a few booze, and cheap strawberry sundae. Thankfully, he also didn’t forget to save one $100 bill for this week. Yeah, _you’re being sarcastic_.

In other word, he earned almost twice amount you got from working for 2 weeks in just 5 days.

After reviewing all of his expenses, you came up with a plan. You need to cut his budget down to 60%. The pizza he usually bought is terribly overpriced, and for the love of God, who would buy a $5.25 strawberry parfait?

“I can’t, I need a lot of calories.” He whined when you told him to switch his diet.

“Pizza isn’t the only food with high calories.” You sighed, still unable to understand how he could stay in shape and still healthy after seeing what kind of food he takes on daily. “You can switch them to bread, rice, pasta, or meat.”

“But I never ate those kind of food before, I don’t think they’d be as delicious as pizza.”

_Picky eater_.

“Well, you haven’t try it yet.” You shrugged, “try it before you complain.”

He groaned, rubbing his face with both of his hands. You snorted as you shake your head, you cannot believe what he said. He’s already in his 40s but still acts like a kid. Pulling out your notebook, you begin to write down a few restaurant name you can think of.

“I’ll give you some recommendations for the replacement. I assure you they’re really delicious but maybe they use less expensive ingredients, unlike the one you usually eat.”

“Wait, you think that pizza was expensive?”

“Well, _yeah_.” You squint in disbelief, “Isn’t it obvious? The average price for large pizza is $7, but the one you bought was way much more expensive.”

“Really?” He scratches his chin, intrigued by your reply. “How did you know those things?”

“My friend told me once, and she really makes sure I will never forget it.” You laughed for a bit, remembering how your friend was angry at the price of a large pizza at a new restaurant.

He lifts his eyebrows curiously, but a small grin appears on his lips. “Tell me about it.”

“Oh, it was so embarrassing.” You wagged your hand, “it happen when we visited the new beer garden in town, they said their beer is hand-crafted. The concept of that place is also really unique so we’re quite hyped up. When we arrived, we took the outdoor table so we could drink a cold beer in the hot summer.”

“The thing is, we already knew the price would be quite expensive. So when we saw the price, we weren’t surprised at all, until she looked at the pizza.” Giggles begin to erupt from your mouth, “And I swear I’d never been so embarrassed before, she literally shouted ‘ _$15 for a pizza?? Are you fucking kidding me?_ ’ and in that moment, I could feel all head turned to us.”

You suppressed your laugh as you try to wipe off the cringe you got from that memory, but it doesn’t seems to end anytime soon. When you finally calmed, you realize he had been watching you with amusement dancing in his eyes for the whole time. You clear your throat as you try to change the subject,

“Anyway, here’s the list of restaurant around the city that you can try. I also added their recommended dishes in case you didn’t know what to order.” You tear a piece of paper from your notebook and put it on the table. He leaned closer to take the note, reading all the things you put together. “I’ll give you a simplified record book via mail tomorrow, along with a few for-delivery-only pamphlets,” the last part came out as a mumble, you hoped it doesn't sounds like you're meddling with his life, “... If you’d like to.”

"Sure, that'd be helpful."

"Okay," You let out a breath of relief, quickly noted to yourself to re-read all the take-out pamphlets you hoard in your home. "I guess that's that."

“Aww, leaving so soon again? I kinda hope you’d stay longer.”

“Sorry, I’m really busy.” You begin to put your things into your bag while you try hard to avoid his gaze. You were afraid that if your eyes meets, you’d be captivated by his gaze. Brushing your hair behind your ear, you quietly say ‘ _I’ll come back next week_.’

As you got up from your seat, he seized your hand by your wrist like a lightning, effectively stopping you from getting away. Still stand solid on your tracks, you looked down to your hand before you gave him a puzzled look—completely perplexed.

“How about you deliver those things to me in person?” He playfully suggested.

“I have works to do, you know.” You complained, slowly recovering from your shock. “I’m not as idle as you.”

“But I’m also your work.”

“Oh my god.”

You plant your palm to your face, really giving him a pure annoyed look. You were disturbed by how easily he gets into your nerve, but you can't even stay mad at him for long when he gave you that mischievous smile.

_Snap out of it,_ you curse yourself. _You barely know him, and he's Mr. Morrison's friend for God's sake._

You swiftly yanked your hand from him, “No, I’ll send them via mail.”

When you leave the place, you stomp your feet as keep walking further away without stopping. Frustration fills your head as you scold yourself for letting him charmed you so easily. How unprofessional, even your own body betrays you. 

All of the sudden, a déjà vu crossed your head as you feel you’ve been here—in this very situation as you can feel his stare burning on your back.

Keeping your eyes to the narrow street, you didn’t have the courage to look back.

* * *

In the last day of the second week, you learnt that Dante is a Devil Hunter.

It was started with a simple question, but things quickly escalated from playing guess to the detailed revelation. You weren’t really shocked at his disclosure since you know Mr. Morrison also works with shady people. But the fact that there’s a lot of murder cases with devil involved makes your sense of security shaken to the roots. You always thought at least the horror of Hell’s Tower—or he called it ‘Temen-ni-gru’—has passed, but turns out it’s not over yet. Based on his story, the world almost fell into apocalypse thrice.

In that particular evening, he told you about his job and the dark side of the world you never knew before. He retold the story about the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda and how he separated the netherworld from human world. But no matter how hard he tried to split up those world, there’s always a way for demon to get through the portal, though demon could no longer enter the world at their will.

He told you about many of his adventures as a Devil Hunter, from the mundane story, to the most exciting one. He also mentioned that human blood is the main source of demon’s power, which makes them the most dangerous predator for human. You’d thought he has a noble job if he didn’t slip one or two flirts as he told you the story.

The other thing that surprises you the most is how inexpensive his utility bills are—his water bill is even cheaper than yours. But in the other hand, his electric bill is pretty expensive. You suspect it's because of the use of neon lights, and jukebox.

He also seems to live in here, you concluded after you saw a loose shirt and worn-out towel that were carelessly thrown onto the sofa. There’s also a stack of pizza boxes on his desk, and you quickly recognize the logo on the top of the box. It belongs to the pizzeria you recommended to him.

“And then boom, the next thing I know was she transformed into a Devil Arm. I swear, that was the coolest weapon I ever see.” He gestures on how big is the weapon is, “I mean, you can play guitar while electrocute your enemies? That was some good shit!”

“Yeah, I guess that’s cool—“ You sneezed in the mid sentence. Rubbing your nose, you were relieved after holding it back for a long time. The amount of dust in this room is no joke.

“Damn, you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine now.” You snuffle, “So what happened to that weapon?”

“Well, it was taken away from me.” He scratches his head, cringed at your question as it got him on point. “I was unable pay my debt so I had to give it away.”

“Huh, so your true enemy isn’t the demon but rather your own debt.” You joked.

His shoulders lifted up for a bit, he nonchalantly brushed the matter aside. “But it’s no longer a problem to me since you’re here.”

“Be careful with your words.” You snorted, “I might become an even bigger trouble for you.”

He leans his face closer to you, wearing a smirk to rile you up. “And why’s that?”

You rolled your eyes, moving away from his face. “Because I’ll force you to cut corners.”

He lets out a playful ‘ _ooh_ ’, puckering his lips.

“Make me.”

“Let’s see,” You pretend to think out loud, “You have to pay $660.5 at the end of the month, but you only managed to save less than a quarter amount of it this far. Which means you have to chase the remaining three-quarters of your bill, or you’d disappoint Mr. Morrison because you can’t even pay it off in the first month.”

“Shit,” he lifts both of his hand in defeat, “you got me.”

“So” you propose, “either you cut your budget, or you work twice as hard.”

“I don’t think it’d be that easy, miss.” He chuckles, “clients don’t always come to my shop. Besides—”

He scratches his chin. Even though he’s no longer grinning, you can still see a small tugs in the corner of his lips.

“I’d be glad if there’s no job for me to take. That way I know the world is gradually become much safer.”

“Oh.”

Silence falls between you as his gaze turned inscrutable, and the emotions that's always bare for you to see become too obscure to read. You do understand the conflict he felt about his job, but there’s not even a single word you could form to ease his worry.

“… Actually, there’s a third option.”

He blinked, the void in his eyes is now sparked with interest. When you look at him, you found yourself stunned at something you’ve always overlooked before. The color of his eyes are the clearest aquamarine you ever see.

“I don’t know if you already know this but, there’s some people who likes to keep devil’s parts as a collection. Even my uncle has a few artifacts like demon’s fangs, and serpent’s scale.”

“Really? People collects those things?”

You nodded,

“I’m surprised you didn’t know about it but yeah, they do. It's a win-win, you could kill demons and make money from it. People would buy them,” You saw a glint of curiosity in his face. You inclined a bit closer and spoke in a low tone, “And I heard they’d pay for it at a great price.”

He whistles, “Damn, humans are weird.”

“You’re also a human.” you snort, leaning your back to the sofa. “Anyway, I’ll ask my uncle about it, I promise I’ll tell you the details as soon as I can.”

“I always thought demon is only worth the money if someone ask me to kill them.” He eagerly rubs his palm together, “Jackpot.”

You smile in amusement. You know it’s not your job to help him but there’s no harm in doing him a favor.

* * *

It was in the third week you got to meet the most beautiful woman you ever see. When you opened the door, the first thing you saw was a blonde woman standing next to Dante. She's leaning against his desk before she turns her head to you. It took you a long second before you hear Dante calling out your name when you were too stunned to move, snapping you back to reality. She’s so gorgeous, you can't help but look at her a little longer. You stole a glance to Dante who eats spaghetti from take-out container, he looks like an ordinary man next to a model.

“So she’s the one who’s been helping you recently.” She brushed her fingers on her chin, looking at you closely.

“Yeah, isn’t she cute?”

You show a sheepish smile in front of her curious gaze, not even listened to Dante’s comment.

“Um—yeah, I’ve been helping him, it’s because Mr. Morrison’s asked me to—nothing really special, really.” You laugh nervously, trying to ease your own awkwardness. She gave you a mysterious smirk before she’s walking closer towards you. As the click of her heels is getting closer, you found yourself unable to take your eyes off her before she finally stands in front of you.

“Tell me, how did you come up with selling demon’s part?”

“I—uh, I have an uncle who knows about those things.” You stuttered, “Is something wrong?”

She chuckles as she shakes her head, “No, I was surprised when I saw him having a lot of cash. I thought he stole it but turns out he got some help.” She crossed her arms in front of her torso, throwing a sneer to him, “Then I was told that it was you who suggested him to sell demon’s part to your acquaintance. It’s funny because that little brain of his could never come up with that idea but it took you—a normal human—less than a month to figure it out.”

“Come on, I’m not that stupid.” He groaned, “Besides, we’re also a human Trish.”

She rose one of her brow, she looked like she's ready to question him but she stopped when Dante gave her a meaningful look. You furrowed your brow as they both exchange a look. _What the hell are they trying to communicate?_

The woman, ‘Trish’ suddenly lets out a breathy chuckle.

“Yeah, of course. We’re human. That’s why I’m calling you stupid.” She mocked him as she puts her hands on her waist. Your eyes trailed from her toned arm to her slender hand, her complexion is really fair—completely contrasted with the color of her clothing.

“Come on Trish, I bet you also didn’t know about those things.” He taunted, but she doesn’t seems to be bothered.

“I already know.” She gave him a lopsided smile, “It’s an open secret among the Devil Hunters.”

“Wait, really?”

“If only you weren’t lazy to take the jobs, but oh well.” She shrugged, “That’s none of my business.”

“Can you tell me more about it?”

Both of their attention immediately turned to you, you can feel your face heated up for a moment.

“The devil’s part deal? What do you want to know about that?”

You thought for a moment as you're fiddling with your bag’s zipper. “All of it, the concept is still new to me so I’d like to know more.”

“Of course, I’ll tell you. But oh dear,” she touched you shoulder in a calming way, gesturing you to follow her, “Why don’t we take a seat? Your heartbeat is quite erratic.”

“How did you—“ You were bewildered by the way she could notice your heartbeat, but you recalled Dante said Devil Hunter has an excellent senses. _Maybe she’s also a Devil Hunter?_ You wondered.

Surprisingly, her touch did calmed you down as you no longer felt the butterflies in your stomach. How ironic, the one who soothes your nerves is the one who caused your heart beats faster.

“I will tell you the common knowledge about the deal.” She started as both of you sat down on the dusty sofa, you can feel your nose starting to get stuffy. “But I won’t tell you some secrets since it’s quite sensitive.”

You straighten your skirt, ready to listen. “It’s alright, really.”

“Besides, I’d like to see you figure them out yourself.” She gives you a playful wink, causing the shade of your face even redder.

“As you know it, you can only sell those Devil’s part in black market. There’s some level inside those kind of business and you were just beginning to see the peak.” She rests her hand on the armrest, crossing her legs. She leans her head on her palm, giving you a mixed look of tease and concern. “Promise me one thing—don’t stick your nose too deep into that business, stay on the surface. Trust me, you don’t want to know what’s below the ice.”

You nodded, “I won’t. You can trust me on that.”

“Good.”

Both of you were interrupted by Dante who was just finished his meal and joins the chat. “I think you already know the highest demand in the market is the Devil’s Arm. There’s also some other things that you could sell like Devil’s Jewel, Devil’s eye, head, scale—almost everything. But you should know one thing, there’s one important item that can served as both currency and gemstone: Red Orbs.”

Dante’s the first one to interfere, “People trade those petty things? Seriously?”

“That’s why I like to go hunt with you.” She sneered, “I picked up all the penny you left behind.”

“Why you never told me that before?”

“What’s the fun in that?”

He groans in dismay, but his response only makes her smile even wider. She clearly enjoys torturing him. You snorted a laughter as you too are enjoying her scoffing remarks. As the conversation goes by, ideas pops in your mind every time she told you a new piece of information. You finally get the hang of it, and there's a lot of things you wanna try.

"It's a shame you work with a banana brain guy." She sighed, "You should've worked with me instead, we can have a lot of fun with the money."

A little laugh escapes your lips, "I also thought the same thing."

"Come on! Stop stealing everything from me will ya?"

* * *

You felt like your life has finally decide to drop a bombshell in the last week of the March when Dante asked you to join him on a mission. At first you tried to refuse his beg, but he was so persistent about it so you gave up.

When you arrived at the Grand Palace Hotel—the place where you two agreed to meet on, you were enthralled by the appearance of this hotel. This place feels glamourous, as if people could taste the luxury in the air. Even when you have put the best dress you owned, somehow you still feel the need to wear something more expensive.

“Hey,” He waved at you when you reached the main hall, “Your costume is quite extravagant for devil hunting, are you going to a party tonight?”

You feel your cheek heated for a bit, you don't want to admit it but he's right about that but there's no way you're gonna dressed carelessly. “No, but I thought at least I should wear something nice to the luxury hotel.” You looked down to your heels, and the edge of your shirt. “... To be honest, I still feel out of place.”

You reached to touch your earring—the long earrings you would only use for special occasion—to ease your nerve. But it seems like you're the one with the effort, he doesn’t even try to wear something nice—In fact, he’s quite the opposite. He only wears his usual clothes and a long-red maroon coat. Your eyes quickly noticed something new in him, he's carrying something else on his back—a long sword.

He took your hand and placed a kiss on your knuckles, you didn’t even have time to react. “Don’t worry, you look beautiful.”

“You never stop flaunting, do you?” You gave him a humorous, but genuine smile.

“You ought to know by now.” He teasingly draw a circle on your hand, didn’t letting your hand go.

He took you further to the hotel with your hand still in his hand. The one who called him had set up the meeting at the hotel bar, he said the client is actually the manager of the hotel.

When you first step into the bar, you notice how exquisite their interior is. The Vermount Bar is packed with people with cocktail dresses, certainly they didn’t notice your arrival, but a few of them stole a worry glance to the man besides you. It didn’t take long before Dante become the center of their attention, but he doesn’t seems to be bothered by it.

There’s one man who’s sitting in the corner of the room, with a newspaper in his hand. Dante took interest in him before he approaches the man in fancy suit by sitting on the empty seat. You also followed him by sitting on the available chair at the round table.

The man only took one glance to him before he continues reading the news, “Dante, you're late.”

“Sorry for the wait, but hey,” He spoke with casual tone, acting indifferent though he’s speaking to a client. “At least I'm here now.”

“Good, at least I won’t have to wait for another minutes.” The man glances at you, "And I see you bring a partner with you."

"Oh, actually I'm—"

"She's my new partner."

You turned your head to him in confusion, but he gestures you to play along.

You coughed, "Yeah, I'm his partner."

"I see, but since we already agreed on the price, I hope you already included your partner's fee because I won't pay for any bonus." 

Dante gave him a sour smile, you rolled your eyes as you get the meaning. _There goes his plan_.

He folds his newspaper as he pulls out a gold cigar case from his suit. He cut the edge of the cigar before he lit it up with an engraved zippo. A thick cloud of smoke blows out from his lips, releasing a woody—and a hint of spice aroma into the air. He seems to savor the tobacco before he finally decide to speak, “I need you to investigate three missing person in my hotel, my employees to be precise. They all were working in the kitchen, and if you see the layout, there’s only 2 exits in that room. One leads to the hotel's restaurant, and the second is the backdoor. The strange thing is, they all gone missing in the pantry.”

“Based on the witnesses statement, the victim went to the pantry to take some ingredients but after almost an hour, they never came back. When one of my employee decided to check the pantry, he only found a carton of milk laying on the floor, as if someone accidentally dropped it but there's no trace of anyone inside the room. At first I suspected it was an abduction, but it happened three times, in the same place. They just disappeared without traces.”

“If it involves someone's life, why don’t you tell police?” Dante interferes. Judging by how the client's eye twitched in a split second, you were sure Dante nailed him right on the head.

“ _I won't do it,_ " He growled, "It will ruin my Hotel’s reputation.”

“I see.” Dante inclined closer to him, folds his hands onto the table. " Can you show me the way to the pantry?"

The door to the kitchen is in the back of the restaurant, and the entrance looked exactly like the one you saw on cartoon or movie—double swinging door with round window on each door. _Classic_. When you enter the empty kitchen, the silence in this room gives you an uncanny feeling. This place is usually full of working people, bustling with energy, yet all you can see is just cold kitchen counters. You dislike the lack of light source in this room, it makes your brain think something would come out from the dark.

"Ready to meet some devil?"

"... No."

He laughed,

"Don't worry, just hold me tight if you're scared."

"Thanks for the offer, but no."

You pretend you didn't hear him say 'oh man'.

Walking towards the metal door at the end of the room, you found yourself almost getting a cold feet. Are you really want to do this? Will you make it out alive?

He pushes the pantry's door open, and you saw an even dimmer room inside. 

The temperature inside the room feels colder as it's being set in a certain degree to keep the ingredients fresh. You know it's not enough to make you shiver, yet it did. It strucks you that something doesn't feel right about this room.

"Alright, where do we start?" He rubs his chin with his thumb while looking around as if he's playing detective in a cheap mystery movie. He begins to circle around the room. "Do you find any clue Dr. Watson? Cigarette butts? Footprints? A trace of brownish red dirt that'd lead us to the murderer?"

"Shut up." You shoved his shoulder, but he doesn't even budge the slightest.

You look around, trying to spot anything odd between those racks, then the top of the shelves, and to the ceiling. Yet you found nothing in particular, nothing out of ordinary. No escape route, no huge vents, no sign of Devil's track—until you look down to the floor. At first you weren't sure of what you were seeing but your eyes begin to catch a few blurred patterns on the floor. You try to squint to see them more clearly, and slowly the red lines and symbols start to reveal themselves to you.

“Dante, there’s something written on the floor.”

“Huh?” he turns his head to you before he looks down to the floor, “I don’t see anything.”

“I’m serious! It looks like, like layer of circles with symbols—like a sigil.”

“Sigil?” He thought for a moment, but it didn't take long before an idea crosses his mind, “Huh, so this is what they've been using instead.”

"What do you mean?"

"Well," He scratches his head, "To put it simple, the thing you see might be the portal that drags the victims down to Hell. But it's not easy to create a portal, which means we're dealing with some devil with magic."

"What?" You gawked in disbelief, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," He spoke while his eyes are still glued to the floor, the furrow on his forehead is getting deeper. "And... Since you're the only one who could see it, try to find the symbol that serves as a key."

For the second time, you blurt out another ' _what?_ '.

"Could you be more specific?"

"Look for one particular circle with a symbol in it that shines a little bit brighter than the rest, you should be able to see it."

"Uh, okay."

You try to focus on searching for the thing he just told you about, and yes, there's one particular symbol that stands out from the rest. It shines with a crimson red hue—the color of the blood.

"That one." You point at the corner of the room, the one near the dairy section.

"Good, now touch it."

"Touch?" A suspicion crossed your mind, ".... Wait. Do you want to use me as a bait?"

"No." He looks away when you stare at him, but his lie quickly crumbles as he lifts both of his palm up, giving up after you send him a threatening look. "Well—yeah, kinda. But it's not like what you think, I swear."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" You shouted, "I won't do it!"

"Come on," He begged, "The portal could only be open with human's touch, and I need someone else to open it so I could enter their lair."

You pinched the bridge of your nose as you frown, you begin to wonder why you agreed on helping him in the first place.

"... Promise me you'll keep me safe?"

"I promise, you're safe with the most Legendary Devil Hunter." He cheekily grins as he points at himself.

You rolled your eyes, "Legendary your ass."

You begin to walk toward the symbol and kneeling to inspect them—yes, this is the one. Slowly, you put your hand onto the shining symbol. The circle starts to flicker with red sparks as your pressed your palm flat to the surface. The symbol lights up in red, suddenly the whole room shakes as the center part of the sigil crumbles into darkness. Your eyes begin to water because of the gusting wind and blinding red lights.

"Well, that's quite a show!" He grabs his sword eagerly, stepping closer to the portal. "Now, listen to me. Whatever happen, don't take your hand off the symbol, or else..."

"Or else?" Anxiety begins to bubble up inside you.

"Or else I won't have a way back here, to the human world."

" _Fuck_."

"This is the first time I see you freak out like this. You should note that on the calendar."

"Oh, fuck off." You curse as you try to shield your face from the strong wind.

He chuckles before he jumps straight into the black hole, disappearing from your sight.

The floor rumbles as it tries to pull you into the portal, your hand frantically search for something that could keep you secure. Your hand quickly gripped the pole of the shelf, hoping they're sturdy enough to hold you. The rattling sound from the glass jars around you intensifies the situation, you can feel your chest hurts from the panic. How long should you endure it? You weren't sure, even your feet slowly being dragged bit by bit into the center of gravity no matter how hard you try to keep them close. You lose the track of time as you've been holding the shelf for your dear life.

All of the sudden, your stomach dropped when you saw a long, black arm clutching on the edge of the hole. You stare horrifically as something emerge from portal, a large figure with a bright light inside the hood which was supposed to be the face. The demon slowly steps out from the portal, unaffected by the strong wind as the long hood he wore doesn't flutter at all.

The demon brandishes his staff at you, letting out a guttural sound.

" _You! The traitor of the witch!_ " The fire of his staff begin to ignite dangerously, " _You are unworthy to wield magic!_ "

The demon aimed his burning staff to you before he unleashes a large fireball towards you. Your mind scream at you to run, but you find yourself unable to lift your hand from the symbol. Froze like a deer caught in a headlights, you curled as you try to shield yourself with your arm, bracing yourself for the scorching heat.

**Bang! Bang!**

A golden light blazed for a split second, followed by an inhuman screech. Still high on adrenaline, you begin to feel the chaos inside the room has subdued as the wind no longer disheveled your hair. Slowly, you put your hand down as you see Dante standing over the demon's body, picking up the thing that the demon left behind. Your eyes trailed down to see the remaining of the demon, with Red Orbs scattered around the room. He examined the staff as he twirls it between his hand.

"Look, we got the Pyromancer's Staff. I bet we can sell it for a high price."

You dropped your shoulder as you breathe out the air you've been holding. _Thank Goodness_ , you're still alive.

He studied the staff before he looks over your trembling figure, smirking. You gave him a suspicious look, he'll certainly gonna say some stupid joke. 

"You look pale (Y/N), did you just saw a scary ghost?"

"That's one terrible joke, really!" You scowled at him with unfiltered rage. Lifting your hand from the symbol, you shut the portal as it slowly closing itself. Leaning onto the shelf, you try to calm yourself from the adrenaline.

"You okay?"

You gave him a dirty look, "Do I look okay to you?"

"Honestly, no." He puts down the staff, "Come on, I'll help you up."

He offers you his hand, you stare at his calloused hand before you reluctantly take it. He pulls you up but your legs still feel like a jelly so you stumble on him. His hand quickly catch you by your waist, holding you still. The musky smell from his clothes invaded your nose as he held you closer.

"Need a carry, princess?"

"No, just give me a min—" You shriek as you were suddenly lifted off from the ground, he then throws you over his shoulder effortlessly. "Put me down!" You protested as you smack his back repeatedly.

"Not until your legs stop trembling like a newborn fawn."

You cover your face in embarrassment, unable to throw any snarky remarks to him.

He lets out a small laugh when you still try to wiggle free from his solid grip, you were really persistent. Not that he minds.

Though, tonight's event really took an interesting turn. He looked down to see the large crescent shape of burn mark on the floor near where you've been sitting earlier. The burnt area looks like a black airbrush sprayed over a round object before it was removed, leaving a perfect half-circular graffiti. 

_(Y/N)_ , he hums, _what else were you hiding under your skin?_

**Author's Note:**

> As you can see, it's gonna be a long ass story so bear with me till the end of series 💕


End file.
